TheVOid DQ'ed? (Xpost)

[Todd Terry]

1. I don't think anyone should celebrate or condemn the decision reached by Stars, as the information uncovered by their investigation is not known (unless your cause for celebration is your dislike of Telscher, in which case you should celebrate). I think given the magnitude of this situation, Stars should make an effort to reveal some information while at the same time protecting any information that would reveal super-sophisticated investigative techniques that could be exploited in the future by cheaters.

2. Nor do I think Stars can be given credit for making a decision that benefits the integrity of the game while hurting their bottom line. It may well be the case that the best business decision, given the publicity this situation has received at least among hard-core Internet poker players, was to disqualify the winner rather than sweeping it under the rug.

3. Saying to multiaccounters that if you get caught multiaccounting you will not get the prize money in the tournament in which you were caught multiaccounting is a woefully inadequate deterrent. TheVoid lost a $2600 entry fee here, big deal. Was it worth it to take a shot at winning over $1 million? From a cost/benefit perspective (setting ethical considerations aside), undoubtedly. I think the only thing that is going to deter multiaccounting is turning over these cases for criminal prosecution. While this probably could be done in this case if the Villain(s) were playing in England, it will never be done in the United States due to Stars' questionable legal status/practices over here.

4. While far from a perfect solution, bumping up everyone one level is the least speculative and therefore best solution, which is why it is used by all sporting contests in similar situations. Sure, g-p could have won the whole thing, but perhaps another person would have been sitting in the same spot and been dealt the same cards. Short of a redo, which of course would be ridiculous, I think this is the best thing that can be done.

5. Those of you that believe that this situation should be kept as quiet as possible so as to minimize the effect to your own bottom line probably have good careers ahead of you as insider traders. Or perhaps you could work for the governments in China, Russia or Venezuela making decisions about what news should be broadcast to the masses. I think it's appalling that the poker media did not pick up on this story before, and will only do so now if Stars gives its blessing.